A lot of SEO advice for real estate agents is a waste of time.
It might grow your traffic, but it does nothing to grow your business.
When I first started trying to grow a real estate website, I made all the classic mistakes. I wrote content about the best coffee shops, smoothie bars, hiking trails, and things to do around town. Traffic went up. Leads stayed flat.
That was the turning point.
In this article, I'm going to walk through five actionable SEO strategies for real estate agents that actually generate buyer and seller leads. These strategies work whether you're building a website from scratch or trying to fix one that already exists.
The goal is simple.
More clients. Fewer wasted hours.
Why Traffic Alone Does Not Pay the Bills
Traffic feels good. Leads pay the bills.
SEO only works when the people landing on your website are already thinking about buying, selling, or moving. If your content attracts tourists, locals looking for brunch, or people killing time, it will never convert.
The first mindset shift is this:
Your website exists to attract high-intent visitors, not everyone.
1. Start With Keywords That Convert
The biggest SEO mistake real estate agents make is chasing keywords with high search volume instead of high intent.
Some of the best real estate keywords have such low search volume that they do not even show up in tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Keywords Everywhere.
That is fine. Those keywords still convert.
High-intent keyword examples
Focus on phrases like:
- Sell my house in [city]
- Living in [city or neighborhood]
- Moving to [city]
- New homes in [area]
- Homes for sale in [neighborhood]
These keywords attract people who are already making a decision.
Choose core areas first
Before you write anything, pick two to four core areas.
A core area is a town, city, or neighborhood where:
- You already do business
- You know the market well
- You would gladly take more buyers or sellers
These should be the bread-and-butter locations of your business.
Real-world example
One real estate team had an article titled "Best Things to Do in Old Town Cottleville." It received 800 to 1,000 visits per month. It never produced a single real lead.
Another article titled "Living in Lake St. Louis" only received 150 to 200 visits per month. That article directly led to a $1.3 million waterfront purchase and multiple active buyer leads.
Low traffic. High intent. Real money.
Keywords to avoid
In most cases, skip:
- Things to do in [city]
- Best restaurants in [city]
- Best coffee shops in [city]
- Best gyms in [city]
These bring traffic, not clients.
2. Upgrade Existing Content Before Writing New Articles
Once you have content ranking on Google, your job changes.
It is much easier to move a page from position 8 to position 1 than it is to rank a brand new page from scratch.
How to prioritize your content
Use a keyword tool and group your rankings into three buckets.
Priority one: rankings 2 to 15
These pages are already doing well. Small improvements can push them to the top.
Actions to take:
- Add more detail
- Improve clarity
- Expand sections slightly
- Increase relevance
If a page scores low on content relevance, improving it can move rankings quickly.
Priority two: rankings 16 to 50
These pages need real upgrades.
Actions to take:
- Add new sections
- Reorder content for clarity
- Add images, maps, or examples
- Make the article more comprehensive
These pages require more effort but often produce strong results.
Priority three: rankings 51 and beyond
Pages ranking this low are usually mismatched to the keyword.
If a keyword is important and you want to rank for it, create a new article dedicated specifically to that topic.
Example: An article ranking number one for "Moving to O'Fallon" also ranked around 60 for "new housing developments in O'Fallon." That keyword deserves its own article focused entirely on new construction.
3. Make Your Content Different and Better
If your content sounds like every other real estate website, it will not convert.
Generic, fluffy writing does not build trust.
What bad content looks like
Phrases like:
- "A great place to live"
- "Safe streets and nice homes"
- "A blend of suburban and urban living"
These could describe almost any city in the country.
They are vague. They are forgettable. They do not demonstrate expertise.
What great real estate content includes
Your content should include:
- Your real opinions and perspective
- Original photos and videos
- Stories from real transactions
- Local nuance specific to the area
- Details only a local expert would know
Photos matter more than most agents realize. Use your phone. Take pictures at listings, showings, neighborhoods, parks, and developments. Add descriptive captions and alt text with the location name.
This improves relevance and helps your images rank in Google.
Use experience to add credibility
Strong content sounds like this:
"Waterfront homes in Lake St. Louis are extremely competitive. Many of the transactions we help with happen off-market due to limited inventory. Buyers often need to move quickly or work with an agent who knows private opportunities."
That level of nuance builds trust and leads naturally into a call to action.
If you are newer, leverage team or brokerage experience using "we" language. Authority still counts.
4. Build Content Clusters Around Core Areas
Google favors depth, not one-off articles.
Instead of writing one article per city, build clusters of content around each core area.
Example cluster for one city
For a single market, you might create:
- Living in [city]
- New homes in [city]
- Best neighborhoods in [city]
- Sell my house in [city]
- New developments in [city]
Each article targets a different intent but reinforces the same location.
Internally link these articles together before worrying about external backlinks. This builds topical authority and helps rankings across the entire cluster.
Create linkable content
Data-driven content works especially well:
- Best neighborhoods in [city]
- Most expensive homes in [area]
- Housing statistics for [market]
- Famous people from [city]
These types of articles naturally attract links and shares.
5. Optimize Like a Pro
Technical SEO is not everything, but it still matters.
When targeting a keyword, make sure it or a close variation appears in:
- The URL
- Title tag
- H1
- First sentence
- First H2
- Meta description
- Last sentence of the article
Example keyword: "Living in Lake St. Louis"
Valid variations include:
- Live in Lake St. Louis
- Lake St. Louis living
- Living in Lake St. Louis Missouri
Use natural variations without keyword stuffing.
Final Thoughts
SEO for real estate agents does not have to be overwhelming.
Focus on:
- High-intent keywords
- Core areas you actually serve
- Improving content that already ranks
- Writing with real expertise and nuance
- Building depth, not fluff
When done correctly, SEO turns your website into a long-term lead engine instead of a traffic vanity project.